| Acknowledgements | 第1-4页 |
| Abstract | 第4-5页 |
| 论文提要 | 第5-6页 |
| Contents | 第6-9页 |
| Chapter One Introduction | 第9-18页 |
| 1. Initiation of the Research Project | 第9页 |
| 2. An outline of the UG Theory and Its Relationship with Language Acquisition | 第9-10页 |
| 3. The Logical Problems of Language Acquisition | 第10-12页 |
| ·The Logical Problems of L1 Acquisition | 第11-12页 |
| ·The Logical Problems of L2 Acquisition | 第12页 |
| 4. Three Hypotheses Concerning the Role of UG in L2 Acquisition | 第12-15页 |
| ·The No-access Hypothesis | 第13页 |
| ·The Partial-access Hypothesis | 第13-14页 |
| ·The Full-access Hypothesis | 第14-15页 |
| 5. Importance of Studying the Role of UG in L2 Acquisition | 第15页 |
| 6. The Strategy of Testing the Role of UG by Exploring Chinese L2 learners’Sensitivity to Subjacency and/or the ECP in Learning English Wh-questions | 第15-16页 |
| Notes | 第16-18页 |
| Chapter Two English Wh-questions and the Constraints on Wh-movement in a Generative Approach | 第18-31页 |
| 1. A Brief Interpretation of English Wh-questions and Wh-movement | 第18-20页 |
| 2. Constraints on Wh-movement: Subjacency and the ECP | 第20-29页 |
| ·Subjacency | 第21-24页 |
| ·Extraction from Complex Noun Phrases (CNPC) | 第22页 |
| ·Extraction from Complex Subjects (Subject Island) | 第22-23页 |
| ·Extraction from Wh-islands | 第23页 |
| ·Extraction from Adjunct Phrases (Adjunct Island) | 第23页 |
| ·Extraction from Coordinate Structures (CSC) | 第23-24页 |
| ·The Empty Category Principle (the ECP) | 第24-27页 |
| ·A Brief Interpretation of Chinese Wh-questions | 第27-29页 |
| Notes | 第29-31页 |
| Chapter Three Previous Studies of the Constraints on Wh-movement in L2 Acquisition | 第31-42页 |
| 1. Introduction | 第31页 |
| 2. An Overview of the Previous Studies | 第31-40页 |
| ·Schachter’s Studies (1989&1990) | 第31-33页 |
| ·Johnson and Newport’s Study (1991) | 第33-34页 |
| ·Martohardjono’s Study (1991) | 第34-35页 |
| ·Martohardjono’s Study (1993) | 第35-37页 |
| ·Xiaoli Li’s Study (1998) | 第37-38页 |
| ·Lydia White and Alan Juffs’Study (1998) | 第38-40页 |
| 3. A Summary of the Previous Studies | 第40页 |
| 4. A Statement of Hypotheses to Be Tested in This Research Project | 第40-42页 |
| Chapter Four Research Methodology | 第42-50页 |
| 1. Introduction | 第42页 |
| 2. Problems Needing Special Consideration | 第42-43页 |
| 3. General Description of the Experimental Design | 第43-46页 |
| ·Using English Native speakers as the Control Group and Chinese L2 Learners as the Subjects | 第43页 |
| ·Establishing Appropriate Levels of L2 Proficiency of the Subjects | 第43-44页 |
| ·Using Subjects Learning English at Different Starting Ages | 第44-45页 |
| ·Using a Grammaticality Judgment (GJ) Task | 第45页 |
| ·Using Different Types of Stimulus Sentences | 第45-46页 |
| 4. Instruments and Measurement | 第46-48页 |
| 5. Population and Sampling Procedures | 第48页 |
| 6. Design of the Questionnaire | 第48-50页 |
| Chapter Five Data, Analysis and Discussion | 第50-65页 |
| 1. Data Obtained in the GJ Task | 第50-56页 |
| ·Subjacency | 第50-51页 |
| ·The ECP | 第51-53页 |
| ·Subjacency and the ECP | 第53页 |
| ·Subjects’Sensitivity to Different Islands | 第53-55页 |
| ·Data for the Starting Time of Learning English as L2 | 第55-56页 |
| 2. Analysis and Discussion | 第56-59页 |
| ·Chinese L2 Learners’accessibility to Subjacency | 第56-57页 |
| ·Sentences with both Subjacency and the ECP Violations and Those with only Subjacency Violation | 第57页 |
| ·Subjects’ Sensitivity to Different Islands | 第57-58页 |
| ·Starting Ages of Learning English and Chinese L2 learners’ sensitivity to UG | 第58-59页 |
| ·Different Proficiency Groups and Sensitivity to UG | 第59页 |
| 3. Comparing the Findings in This Study with Those in the Previous Studies | 第59-65页 |
| ·Subjacency and UG | 第59-60页 |
| ·Subjacency Violations VS Subjacency and the ECP Violations | 第60-62页 |
| ·Sensitivity to Different Islands | 第62-63页 |
| ·The Starting Age of Learning a L2 | 第63-64页 |
| ·Language Proficiency and Sensitivity to UG | 第64-65页 |
| Chapter Six Conclusion | 第65-69页 |
| 1. Restating the problems and procedures | 第65页 |
| 2. Conclusions in Terms of the Hypotheses | 第65-66页 |
| 3. Identification of Weaknesses in This Study | 第66-68页 |
| 4. Suggestions for Replication and Further Study | 第68-69页 |
| Appendices | 第69-76页 |
| Appendice I The Question Formation Task | 第69页 |
| Appendice II The Grammaticality Judgment Task | 第69-71页 |
| Appendice III A Questionnaire on the Acquisition of English Wh-questions (For the Chinese Subjects | 第71-74页 |
| Appendice IV A Questionnaire on the Acquisition of English Wh-questions (For the Native English Speakers | 第74-76页 |
| Bibliography | 第76-77页 |
